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Join the Manhattan Beach community for a special screening of INVENTING TOMORROW at the Mira Costa Auditorium on Tuesday, December 4th from 6:30 – 9pm. First seen at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, Inventing Tomorrow follows six young scientists from around the globe as they tackle some of the most complex environmental issues facing humanity today – right in their own backyards. Each student is preparing original scientific research that he or she will defend at the largest convening of high school scientists in the world, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). Framed against the backdrop of the severe environmental threats we now face, the audience is immersed in a global view of the planetary crisis, through the eyes of the generation that will be affected by it most. Inventing Tomorrow proves that a game-changing idea, combined with the guts to make it happen, could change the world. After the movie, a panel of MBUSD educators will discuss how we can foster innovation and courage in the next generation, helping them to find the courage to take on our planet’s environmental threats. Reserve your seat online to be part of this inspiring event.

MBEF’s Annual Appeal is our most important fundraising campaign with the goal of raising $5 million in the 2018-19 school year. The Appeal begins late August as the school year commences and runs through February 8th, 2019. There is no question that our schools and students excel because we have an engaged community of parents, business leaders, educators and neighbors that are willing to invest in our children’s education and future. Our work together continues, year after year, as we strive to build a foundation of excellence throughout our district. → Read the rest of this article

Nearly 4,000 families, businesses and community members supported MBEF with a donation to the 2017/18 Annual Appeal. As a result of this generosity, MBEF funding to our District has grown to $6.2 million for this school year. This speaks volumes about our collective commitment to our schools and children’s education.

Today MBEF supports or enhances nearly every academic pursuit and enrichment opportunity across our District’s seven campuses. We invite you to review our Annual Report and Honor Roll to learn more about our state funding challenge and the impact your support has on our local schools everyday. We are so inspired by what we have accomplished together.

We recently connected with Holly Compton, Teacher on Special Assignment, to learn how she is bringing professional development into the classrooms of MBUSD elementary math teachers. Here is what Ms. Compton shared:

How should we structure professional development (PD) to have the largest impact, particularly on teachers?

Over the course of this school year, our elementary teachers have had the opportunity to take part in small group professional development, focusing on routines that allow for students to develop their number sense and critical thinking skills. During each PD session, we met as a small teacher group, and then went into a classroom to watch what we are studying in action. Through this process, teachers were able to immediately plan and implement ideas taken from PD into their classrooms. → Read the rest of this article

I am honored to have been selected to serve as Executive Director of the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation. I have been a part of the growth and vision of MBEF for well over a decade and look forward to continuing the momentum we have developed in strengthening our public schools.

We can all take great pride as a community in the opportunities we provide our students through MBEF. MBEF funds 74 teachers and specialists throughout the District – including PE teachers, music instructors, MakerSpace assistants, STEM lab specialists, librarians, counselors, reading specialists, assistant principals, and teachers on special assignment. The programs and educators we fund through MBEF reach every child, every day. → Read the rest of this article

Growing readers and writers is one of my passions. There is a magic to the experience of watching reading and writing come to life; witnessing growth, forming connections, and developing understanding are just a few pieces to this puzzle we call literacy. In 2010, MBUSD adopted the workshop method/pedagogy for reading and writing as a signature practice. I was on board from the start and eager to use this instructional practice in my classroom and learn all it had to offer. In the years to follow I received in-depth professional development which lead to: becoming a writing trainer of trainers for teachers, hosting teachers in my classroom to observe, serving on the district literacy committee, and, in the summer of 2017, becoming the K-12 MBUSD Literacy TOSA. MBEF not only funds this coveted position, but believes the work which offers literacy support to teachers, students, administrators and parents, is invaluable. → Read the rest of this article